The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators was created with the aim of assisting the authorities regulating energy markets to exercise at Community level the regulatory tasks performed in the Member States and, where necessary, to coordinate their action.

ACT

Regulation (EC) No 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing an Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (Text with EEA relevance).

SUMMARY

This Regulation establishes the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators with the aim of exercising at Community level the tasks performed by the Member States’ regulatory authorities.

The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators is a Community body with legal personality. It shall issue opinions on all questions related to the field of energy regulators. It shall participate in the creation of network codes in the fields of electricity and gas and it can make decisions regarding cross-border infrastructure, including derogations from certain provisions in the applicable regulations.

Tasks

Tasks concerning the cooperation of transmission system operators

The Agency is responsible for issuing an opinion on the draft statutes, the list of members and the draft rules of procedure of the ENTSO (European Network of Transmission System Operators) for electricity and gas, and for monitoring the execution of the tasks. The Agency shall play an important role in drafting the framework guidelines which the network codes must comply with. In addition, the Agency shall monitor regional cooperation between transmission system operators in the electricity and gas sectors, and the execution of tasks by the ENTSO for electricity and gas.

Tasks concerning national regulatory authorities

The Agency is responsible for adopting, under certain conditions, individual decisions on technical issues. It may make recommendations with the aim of promoting the exchange of good practice between regulatory authorities and market players. It shall also provide a framework for cooperation between the national regulatory authorities.

The Agency may issue an opinion on whether a decision taken by a regulatory authority complies with the applicable Community rules. If its opinion is not followed, the Agency shall inform the European Commission and the Member State concerned.

The Agency is also responsible for determining, under certain conditions, the terms and conditions for access to and operational security of electricity and gas infrastructure, which connects at least two Member States.

Tasks concerning cross-border infrastructure

The terms and conditions for access applicable to cross-border infrastructure include:

a procedure for capacity allocation;

a time-frame for allocation;

shared congestion revenues;

the levying of charges on the users of the infrastructure.

The Agency is responsible for the terms and conditions for access and security only when the national regulatory authorities have not been able to reach an agreement within a period of six months or they have jointly requested it.

The Agency is responsible for monitoring the internal markets in electricity and natural gas, in particular the retail prices of electricity and natural gas.

Organisation

The Agency comprises:

an Administrative Board which shall adopt a multi-annual programme;

a Board of Regulators which is responsible for providing advice to the Director;

a Director, appointed for five years and responsible for managing the Agency;

a Board of Appeal.

Financial resources

The revenues of the Agency come from:

a subsidy from the general budget of the European Union;

fees paid to the Agency;

voluntary contributions from Member States;

legacies, donations or grants.

Participation of third countries

Third countries which have signed agreements with the Community may participate in the work of the Agency.

Context

To facilitate the consultation of Member States’ regulatory bodies, Commission Decision 2003/796/EC has established an independent consultation group for the electricity and gas sectors (European Regulatory Group for Electricity and Gas or ERGEG). Although the results of its work are positive, it became apparent that Member States need to cooperate under a Community structure in order to strengthen the internal market in gas and electricity.